scholarly journals #MeToo and Google Inquiries Into Sexual Violence: A Hashtag Campaign Can Sustain Information Seeking

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051986819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle R. Kaufman ◽  
Debangan Dey ◽  
Ciprian Crainiceanu ◽  
Mark Dredze

The #MeToo Movement has brought new attention to sexual harassment and assault. While the movement originates with activist Tarana Burke, actor Alyssa Milano used the phrase on Twitter in October 2017 in response to multiple sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Within 24 hours, 53,000 people tweeted comments and/or shared personal experiences of sexual violence. The study objective was to measure how information seeking via Google searches for sexual harassment and assault changed following Milano’s tweet and whether this change was sustained in spite of celebrity scandals. Weekly Google search inquiries in the United States were downloaded for the terms metoo, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and rape for January 1, 2017 to July 15, 2018. Seven related news events about perpetrator accusations were considered. Results showed that searches for metoo increased dramatically after the Weinstein accusation and stayed high during subsequent accusations. A small decrease in searches followed, but the number remained very high relative to baseline (the period before the Weinstein accusation). Searches for sexual assault and sexual harassment increased substantially immediately following the Weinstein accusation, stayed high during subsequent accusations, and saw a decline after the accusation of Matt Lauer (talk show host; last event considered). We estimated a 40% to 70% reduction in searches 6 months after the Lauer accusation, though the increase in searches relative to baseline remained statistically significant. For sexual abuse and rape, the number of searches returned close to baseline by 6 months. It appears that the #MeToo movement sparked greater information seeking that was sustained beyond the associated events. Given its recent ubiquitous use in the media and public life, hashtag activism such as #MeToo can be used to draw further attention to the next steps in addressing sexual assault and harassment, moving public web inquiries from information seeking to action.

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Engie Frentzen ◽  
Doris Reisacher ◽  
Elmar Brähler ◽  
Miriam Rassenhofer ◽  
Jörg M. Fegert ◽  
...  

Introduction: The number of reportings on sexual abuse (SA), sexual violence (SV) cases covered in the media has risen a significant amount with most cases involving women and children. The aim of the study is to explore the questions: Are people aware of sexual abuse and sexual violence in the media? What are the predictors of awareness of sexual abuse and sexual violence? Does the awareness of sexual abuse and sexual violence in the media affect the actions of the individuals?Methods: A representative survey of the German-speaking resident population (2020) on physical and mental well-being was used. The participants (N = 2,503: females = 50.9%) were between the ages of 14 and 97 (M = 49.81). The German version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, The General Habitual Well-Being Questionnaire and questions about own experiences of sexual harassment on the internet, experiences of domestic sexual abuse and different socio-economic variables were used. The outcome variables regarding the awareness of SA and SV in the media, different types of scandals (church, pedophile, USA), #MeToo-debate and the change in actions were used. Frequency analyses and binary regressions were conducted.Results: One thousand five hundred and fifty-five (62.6%) respondents answered yes to being aware of SA and SV in the media. The results show that females, aging, number of children in household, Protestant and Catholic religion, school graduation, own experience(s) of sexual harassment on the internet, own experience(s) of SA in childhood, and Adverse Childhood Experiences have a significant higher association to the awareness of SA and SV in the media. German nationality and Muslim religion have a significant lower association. The variables that most commonly affected the awareness of SA and SV, scandals, debate and the individual actions were age, own experiences of sexual harassment on the internet and the Protestant religion.Conclusion: Advertising more support centers, hotlines and linking this information to sexual abuse cases covered in the media should be considered. Media bystander interventions could be helpful to train people to react appropriately. Further investigation that considers the different types of media and its influence on the awareness of SA and SV is needed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199794
Author(s):  
Katie M. Edwards ◽  
Laura Siller ◽  
Lorey A. Wheeler ◽  
Leon Leader Charge ◽  
Damon P. Leader Charge ◽  
...  

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 6-session (12-hour) empowerment self-defense classroom delivered curriculum (i.e., IMpower) among American Indian girls. Girls ( N = 74) in one middle school and two high schools on an Indian Reservation in the Great Plains region of the United States received the intervention and completed a pre-test and a post-test six months following the final program session. The surveys administered assessed hypothesized intermediary (i.e., efficacy to resist a sexual assault, self-defense knowledge), primary (i.e., sexual violence victimization), and secondary (i.e., physical dating violence, sexual harassment) outcomes. Native American girls ( N = 181) in five middle schools and three high schools in a nearby city where there was no sexual assault prevention occurring completed surveys assessing sexual violence, physical dating violence, and sexual harassment victimization approximately six months apart, thus serving as a comparison to girls in the treatment condition on primary and secondary outcomes. Girls exposed to the IMpower program reported significant increases over time in efficacy to resist a sexual assault and knowledge of effective resistance strategies. Furthermore, propensity score analyses suggested that girls who received the IMpower program reported significantly fewer types of sexual assault and sexual harassment at follow-up compared to girls in the control condition. However, no effect was found for physical dating violence. These data suggest that empowerment self-defense is a promising approach in preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment among American Indian girls.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-234
Author(s):  
Hye Hyun Han

The Korean version of the #MeToo movement has greatly influenced Korean society, and the new social awareness of sexual assault became a hot topic in the field of religion, especially in Korean Christianity. Various hidden cases have been publicized, and victims have begun to raise their once-muted voices. One noticeable factor in sexual harassment in Korean Christianity is the imbalance of power between offenders and victims. The abusers are mostly male pastors who hold absolute authority in their congregation and use this power to force victims to hide the truth. This article presents three main causes that lead to sexual harassment and sexual abuse in Korean churches—the absolute authority of pastors in Korean congregations, the coerced silence of the victims, and the sexual grooming caused by the imbalance of power between the abuser and victim—along with reasons why we stand with the victims.


Author(s):  
Alison Brysk

In Chapter 7, we profile the global pattern of sexual violence. We will consider conflict rape and transitional justice response in Peru and Colombia, along with the plight of women displaced by conflict from Syria and Central America, and limited international policy response. State-sponsored sexual violence and popular resistance to reclaim public space will be chronicled in Egypt as well as Mexico. We will track intensifying public sexual assault amid social crisis in Turkey, South Africa, and India, which has been met by a wide range of public protest, legal reform, and policy change. For a contrasting experience of the privatization of sexual assault in developed democracies, we will trace campus, workplace, and military rape in the United States.


Author(s):  
Sierra Burrier

The project We Still Have Mutual Friends is a qualitative interview study into women’s experiences with sexualviolence. Through the interview process, mostly face-to-face recorded interviews, I have evaluated multiplefacets of sexual abuse/marginalization and their consequences on survivors. In total, I interviewed thirty-twowomen about their familial background, their adolescence, and depending on their age, their life experienceswith their sexuality. Some of the facets I have focused on are the disparity between a subject’s definition andtheir experience of sexual assault. I have also evaluated their self-awareness of this disparity, and why they thinkit occurs. I tried as much as I could, to ask questions in an order/way that did not create preferential answering.Because these interviews followed a standard oral history format of open-ended questions with follow-ups basedon the interviewee’s answers, instances of leading answers were possible. Seventeen out of thirty-two womenwere white, with the next largest group being Hispanic, and then Black. With ages ranging from eighteen upto fifty-eight, several generational voices are accounted for. While there were certain trends found within typesof assault, and who it was (trends not entirely new to us), one thing I discovered is a similar background everyperson shared with their family. All the women had at some point experienced some sort of “body policing.” Ihope this project has provided a more holistic view into the world of sexual violence that women face.


Author(s):  
Ruchi Trivedi

It takes seconds of impulsiveness for an act of sexual abuse to cross the thin line to convert into an act of sexual violence and vice-versa. There are cases where the act of sexual violence is initiated with consent, and there are acts of sexual violence that fall under the umbrella term sexual assault. This chapter examines the role of violence in sexual abuse, i.e. sexual violence. The first section reviews the definitions of sexual violence and throwing some light on forms of violence in sexual abuse and violation of consent during an act of sexual violence. The second section reviews the risk factors and causal for sexual violence. The third section presents an overview of different perspectives on violence in context to sexual abuse are mentioned and examined.


Author(s):  
Tahereh MOKHTARIAN GILANI ◽  
Masoumeh SIMBAR ◽  
Nourossadat KARIMAN ◽  
Tayebeh MOKHTARIAN GILANI ◽  
Shahin BAZZAZIAN ◽  
...  

Background: One of the serious health concerns is rape to adolescents. It is caused by unwanted behaviors through threats, force and physical pressure. The purpose of this study was to review rape in adolescents and methods for its prevention. Methods: This systematic review study was conducted from 2000 to 2017 in the databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus. The CONSORT was used to assess interventional studies. The evaluation of observational studies was performed using the STROBE tool by two researchers independently. Inclusion criteria were studies published from 2000 to 2017, in English languages, and on the samples of 10-20 yr old. Overall, 202 articles published from 2000 to 2017 in English languages were retrieved. Of them, 154 articles were excluded due to lack of inclusion criteria and 38 articles were deleted due to lack of quality And nonrelevance. Finally, 10 articles were selected. Results: In the review of interventional studies, the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault by the means of adolescents’ empowerment and education of self-defense techniques was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group. In other non-interventional studies, there was a statistically significant relationship between the high level of knowledge and attitude of adolescents and the reduction of risk factors and sexual assault. Conclusion: Promotion of awareness and attitudes through evidence-based interventions can prevent sexual abuse in adolescents. Appropriate education programs in schools and adolescent centers to adolescent students and their caregivers can promote healthy relationships and prevent sexual harassment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leora N. Rosen ◽  
Lee Martin

Four different types of childhood maltreatment were examined as predictors of unwanted sexual experiences and acknowledged sexual harassment among male and female active duty soldiers in the United States Army. Predictor variables included childhood sexual abuse, physical-emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Three types of unwanted sexual experiences in the workplace were examined as outcome variables: gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and coercion. Both sexual and physical-emotional abuse during childhood were found to be predictors of unwanted sexual experiences and of acknowledged sexual harassment in the workplace. Among female soldiers, the most severe type of unwanted experience—coercion—was predicted only by childhood physical-emotional abuse. Among male soldiers childhood sexual abuse was the strongest predictor of coercion. A greater variety of types of childhood maltreatment predicted sexual harassment outcomes for male soldiers. Childhood maltreatment and adult sexual harassment were predictors of psychological well-being for soldiers of both genders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Dwi Anggriani ◽  
M. Amrin Siregar

This paper discusses the impacts of sexual abuse found in the novel Speak which has been selected as the source of data because this novel has a strong impact on sexual abuse victim. The story is about a female teenager who becomes a victim of abuse and it gives her many impacts. The aims of this study are to find out and analyze the impacts of sexual abuse and is conducted based on the concept of sexual abuse, a crime related to sexuality and more specifically related to male and female sexuality. Sexual abuse can include sexual harassment and sexual assault. Sexual abuse is an act that can harm and damage the victims with physical, psychological, sexual and even emotional impacts.  This study applies descriptive qualitative method which collects the data taken from the novel that has been read. The result of the study shows that there are three forms of sexual abuse impacts: physical, psychological and behavioral.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Zulfahita Zulfahita ◽  
Citra Utami ◽  
Fitri Fitri ◽  
Fajar Wulandari ◽  
Iip Istirahayu

<em>Sexual harassment is still a taboo subject. This causes many victims of sexual harassment who do not dare to report to others or to the authorities. The number of cases of sexual harassment that occurred, both in the neighborhood and at school, it is important to give a good understanding of sexual harassment and how to avoid it. In response to this, the community service team needs to provide counseling about violence that occurs to children, how to communicate well with children, how to learn language in children, and the importance of conveying reproductive health to children properly. So that this socialization activity has a major role to prevent and provide knowledge and understanding of toilet training, personal areas, and sexual violence so as to prevent sexual harassment. The method used is socialization and documentation, this socialization activity was carried out on Friday, 18 January 2019 and took place in the village of Jagoi Babang. A facilitator must be very careful in the process of socialization, given the very heterogeneous conditions of the community, both the level of education, character, acceptance and understanding of the community. Socialization that is carried out to prevent sexual abuse especially in the area of private organs (sensitive areas) of the body is an important thing that should have been introduced to children from an early age. This is the duty of parents to be able to convey this information in good language and easily understood by children, because of the rampant incidence of sexual abuse, especially in children, whether boys or girls</em>.


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